


In Your Eyes

by hopecanbeyoursword



Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Color Blindness, F/M, Josh Matthews is a Good Bro, Sappy Lucas Friar, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-16
Updated: 2019-03-16
Packaged: 2019-11-19 11:36:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18135239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hopecanbeyoursword/pseuds/hopecanbeyoursword
Summary: Maya Hart had been seeing colors for years before she told anyone that her soulmate is still in gray-scale. It all started one fateful day in seventh grade on the subway. It's junior year of high school before the truth comes out.





	In Your Eyes

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Greyscale](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16634945) by [FestiveFerret](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FestiveFerret/pseuds/FestiveFerret). 



Maya had been bonded by now for two years. For two years, she had been able to see all the colors that she painted with.

But Lucas was still gray-scaled, the only one left of their little group. Riley and Farkle had been seeing in color since first grade, lucky ones for growing up with their soulmate at their side. Zay had arrived in New York with all the colors, his soulmate back in Texas, waiting for him. Smackle had found her soulmate at a debate meet, and they met up every weekend to get to know each other.

No one knew Maya could see the colors. She pretended she only saw grays , asking her bonded friends what color things were. They picked out colors for her paintings, telling her what the right color was for the sky, for the sun. By now, they believed she could tell the shades of  gray apart. She didn’t want to tell them that she had a one-sided bond, that she was more broken than they knew. Even her soulmate couldn’t love her fully. He would never know he was hers.

She was going to keep it that way.

 

* * *

 

Seeing him on the subway had changed everything. The minute she walked over to him, proving to Riley how easy it was to make a friend, her world shifted. The minute he looked up at her, she stumbled backwards. The world had bloomed into color. She could only stare at him, in awe of all the colors he gave her, not listening to the words that came out of her mouth.

He was supposed to look at her in the same way, but he just looked confused as to why some random girl was talking to him a mile a minute. The grip on his book tightened as her glanced away from her.

Upon realizing that he was still in grayscale, she left. She fled, hiding behind her best friend. Riley seemed confused but didn’t say anything.

A one way bond was completely unheard of, but Maya wasn’t surprised that it seemed to be the case for her. She would have to live without anyone to share the colors with for the rest of her life. The only upside was that she would probably never have to see him again. She didn’t think she could handle having him in her life when he would never be hers.

Of course, her life never worked out the way she wanted it to.

He ended up at her school, a new student who had just moved from Texas. He was in her class, and sat right behind her. At least he was out of view most of the class, so she did her best to ignore him. She kept her head down, running out of the room almost immediately, ignoring Riley and Farkle’s cries of her name.

She managed to avoid her friends and the new guy until lunch. Keeping her head down, she sat down next to Riley at their normal table. It was only the two of them, and hoping that it would stay that way, Maya relaxed.

“Are you okay?” Riley asked. “You left history so quickly.”

“Yeah, uh,” Maya hesitated. She didn’t know if she wanted to tell anyone about what had happened that morning. If she was going to tell someone, it would be Riley. However, she knew her best friend would try and take matters into her own hands, and Maya just wanted to forget. No one could make him ( _Lucas_ , a voice whispered) bond with her if she wasn’t his soulmate. Instead, she waved it off, hoping that she would never have to talk to, or about, him again.

“Farkle!” Riley smiled, waving over at their friend. Her soulmate was with the new kid, and Maya immediately hid her face behind one of Riley’s books.

Farkle and the new kid made their way over to their table. Farkle sat next to Riley, hugging her before turning towards his lunch. “I hope you don’t mind that I invited Lucas to join us.”

“Not at all!” Riley exclaimed. “Right, Maya?”

“Hm? Uh, sure,” Maya responded, trying to ignore Lucas. She hoped that this was only temporary, and that soon, he would have his own friend group and wouldn’t have to sit with them anymore. She didn’t want to spend much time around him, so instead of engaging in the group conversation, she pretended to read the book she had been assigned for English.

When lunch was halfway over, she excused herself. Grabbing her stuff, she ducked out of the cafeteria, heading for the library. No one would think to look for her there, so she could easily hide between the stacks of books. She did nothing for the remainder of lunch. She only left so she wouldn’t be late for her next class.

Ducking into the crowds, Maya managed to get to the classroom without being spotted by her friends or the new guy (calling him by his name only made it real and she didn’t want that). She took her normal seat, not wanting to cause too much suspicion. She kept her head down as Farkle and Riley walked in, talking softly between them. Not spotting Lucas with them, Maya straightened up, smiling at them.

She was glad they didn’t comment on her earlier actions. Instead, they filled her in on the gossip she had missed, and tried to subtly tell her what other classes Lucas had with them. She appreciated the gesture, though they did have to work on being subtle.

Lucas had most of his classes with them, and he always sat behind Maya. She didn’t know why, as she didn’t bother giving him the time of day. She was so sure he wouldn’t stick around that she didn’t want to bother getting to know him. It would just make the whole situation harder.

However, as time passed, she as proven wrong. Lucas found a spot in their group, and they were no longer just a trio. He stayed by their side, almost fighting Billy for them. Maya stopped him, knowing that it wasn’t the right thing.

He carved out a place in Maya’s life, but she was still trying to keep him away from her heart. She wasn’t going to put herself through that. Being his friend was enough, at least, for a while.

It changed when they left middle school behind.

 

* * *

Lucas tried dating a girl named Claire during their freshman year. He was on the baseball team, she was a cheerleader. It seemed perfect from the outside, and the fact that they were both still grayscale made it a safe relationship. Neither were in it for the long run, but in the moment, it felt right.

Lucas started spending more time away from the group, and while it hurt Maya knowing that her soulmate was out with someone else, it gave her time away from him. She tried to move on, but it was harder. She couldn’t let anyone know she could see colors, and the flirting always ended as quick as it started. 

Maya thought it was the universe wanting her to suffer.

 

* * *

 

Maya went after Josh to try and heal her broken heart. Josh was still in grayscale, so he was safe, and he was cute, and he noticed her. Maybe not in the way she acted like she was looking for, but he saw her. She was still Maya, Riley’s best friend, but he also saw her as her own person.

They bonded pretty quickly. They both had suitors, but neither of them wanted to go out with some random person. They spent time together outside of school, meeting up when their schedules lined up. They were questioned as if to they were soulmates, but they always smiled, shaking their heads. They were friends, who understood each other in their own way. 

For the first time since she first saw colors, she was tempted to tell someone the truth. She trusted Josh. He wouldn't tell any one if she asked him to keep it quiet.

It wasn’t like she didn’t trust her friends. But Riley would want her to tell Lucas the truth, Farkle would likely go into research mode to find out how it was possible to have a one way soul bond and Maya didn’t want to hear how broken she was. Zay was Lucas’s best friend, and Smackle would either pull a Farkle or make a list of the pros and cons of telling Lucas. And obviously, she couldn’t tell Lucas about the whole situation.

Josh quickly became one of Maya’s best friends and closest confidants. With Farkle and Riley busy with academics and dates, Zay with ballet, Smackle with all her extracurriculars, and Lucas with the baseball team and _Claire_ , Maya felt like she was being pushed to the side. But Josh made time for her.

Lucas actually asked her once if she had found her soulmate in Josh. Maya had laughed it off, before explaining to him her relationship with Josh.

However, Maya noticed that after that conversation, Lucas started spending more time with whoever of their group was free. That was the start of the end of his relationship with Claire.

Lucas and Claire broke up the middle of their sophomore year. They lasted longer than expected of a high school relationship between two grayscaled teenagers. They parted on amicable terms, and were still friends afterwards. They had gotten close enough during the time that they dated, that when Claire met her soulmate, three months later, Lucas was the first to know.

She became an honorary member of their group.

 

* * *

It was the summer after sophomore year, a month before junior year. Maya and Josh had been in a park near his home, shooting darts at water balloons filled with paint in order to create a painting. They both had paint splashed on them. Maya had picked the colors purposefully, even though Josh couldn’t see them, and he thought she couldn’t see them, either. They were the colors of the sunset,  reds ,  pinks ,  yellows ,  oranges ,  purples .

They had finished the painting, and were content in sitting side by side on a nearby bench, watching the other people around them.

Maya stared at Josh, smiling slightly at paint in his hair.  Yellow , such a bright color. She liked the color a lot, but it was a secret she had to keep to herself.

Her smile fell as she braced herself to tell the truth for the first time. No one knew that she was able to see color, and now she was going to open up to Josh. Not her mom, or the Matthews, or her best friends. 

“Josh, can I tell you something?”

He looked over, taking in the serious look on her face. She was staring at the spot next to him, as if afraid to how he’d react. “What is it?” he asked as he approached her, sitting next to her on the bench.

“I’ve never told anyone this before.” She hesitated, wrapping one of her curls around her fingers. “It’s about soulmates.”

Josh looked at her, giving her his full concentration. They didn’t talk about soulmates much, save for the fact that they weren’t each others.

“I can see colors,” Maya continued. “I’ve been able to for years, but he’s still in grayscale.” She wrapped her arms around her legs as she watched the sunset. It was one of her favorite things to look at. She loved how many colors could dance across the expansive sky in a short time. It was why that was what she had chosen as inspiration for that day.

“You know him.”

“I do.”

“Lucas?” Josh ventured a guess.

Maya nodded. “The first day we met on the subway. We made eye contact and suddenly I could see all these bright colors. But he looked at me, confused. He can’t see them. I don’t know why, but I have to accept the fact that he’s my soulmate, but I’m not his. He’ll probably meet someone some day and live happily with them. Riley and Farkle have had each other for over a decade!” She turned to look at him, emotions swimming in her eyes. “I’ve watched them grow up with each other, have the type of love we’re all supposed to have. But I can’t have mine. And I can’t tell him.”

“Maya,” Josh whispered. He pulled her into a hug. “Thank you for trusting me with this. I can’t imagine what it was like living with colors for years, and knowing your soulmate couldn’t seethem.”

“It’s hard,” Maya admitted, whispering against Josh’s shoulder as she curled up to him. “And it only gets harder the closer you get to them.”

“Are you ever going to tell him?”

“I don’t know,” Maya responded. “Maybe one day. But for now, I’m going to leave things how they are.”

“Well, if you need anything, I’m here.” Josh squeezed her shoulder, before resting his head on hers. “Any time.”

 

* * *

 

It was their junior year of high school that Lucas asked her out.

She blinked at him, trying to avoid looking at his  _green_ eyes. Looking at them only reminded her that he still saw her in shades of  gray . “I thought you were waiting for your soulmate, Huckleberry,” she covered her uneasiness with a nickname.

“I was,” Lucas sighed. “But all our other friends already found theirs. And I like you, Maya. We’re both still grayscale. Who knows how much longer it will be before we meet our soulmates? We deserve happiness. Why can’t it be with each other?”

Maya knew this was the moment that would define her future. She could tell Lucas the truth, that she had bonded with him the first time she saw him on the subway. She could ignore his advances, live with the pain of rejecting her soulmate in order to try and save herself from the many future years of pain. Or she could accept, and maybe have happiness for a short time, before he inevitably found his real soulmate and left her behind.

It turned out she hated herself, so she accepted. She accepted the pain that she would inevitably feel when he met his soulmate, and would break up with her. She let herself believe that a small glimpse into what could be would be enough.

So she looked up at him, trying to quell the panic and hope in her stomach. “Alright, Huckleberry. I guess we can give it a shot.”

Lucas smiled at her, before bringing her into a hug. “You won’t regret this. Are you free tomorrow night?”

Maya mentally went through her schedule. Her Friday nights were usually fairly open. If she was doing something, it was with one of her friends, or just painting in her room. “Yeah, I am.”

“Let me take you out,” Lucas ducked his head slightly. “I can pick you up at seven?”

“Yeah, sure,” Maya nodded. “I hope you have something good planned.”

“I do,” Lucas promised. “I do.”

 

* * *

The first few months were easy, and enjoyable. Maya got to know what it was like being around Lucas as something more than friends. It was how it should be, if she hadn’t been broken.

She didn't appreciate PDA all that much, but holding hands was always okay. Sometimes, she’d let Lucas press a kiss to her cheek or forehead as they parted ways for classes.

No one was surprised to hear that he had asked her out, and Riley was especially happy. When she first found out, she squealed, before calling up Farkle. Amongst the expression of happiness and the words of congratulations, Maya recalled Riley wishing that the two were soulmates, because it would make it perfect.

Reality caught up with her, her stomach dropping. Every once in a while, she was reminded that Lucas saw her in shades of  gray , that he probably had a reciprocal soulmate out there somewhere, and he would leave Maya when he found her.

It was worse when they were on a date. There were so many soulmated couples around them, or couples who were both grayscale. It hurt watching them, couples were both halves were on the same page about their relationship.

The worst was when he kissed her, and for a moment, when their eyes were closed, everything felt right. It wasn't colors, but feelings, that joined them together. And then he would open his eyes, and make a wish that he could see her in color.

She would have to pretend that she wished she could see him in color, when what she really wanted was for him to see her in color.

 

* * *

It was three months into them dating that Maya fucked everything up.

She was curled up next to Lucas, under the soft blanket she stashed on the roof. They were watching the sunset. Maya was basking in the colors, wishing to paint them. She turned to look at Lucas, wondering what he was taking from the show. But he was looking at her, gaze soft.

Against her inner voice, Maya stared into his eyes.

“I wish I could see you in color,” Lucas whispered against her forehead as he pressed his lips to her skin. “I know you’re beautiful, but I want to see what color your eyes are.”

Content in the feeling he brought her, Maya spoke without thinking. “Yours are a beautiful  green .”

She only realized what she had said when Lucas pulled away from her. He held her at an arm’s distance, an upset look on his face. “When did you meet your soulmate? How long have you been seeing in color? Why are you still here with me?”

Maya wanted to wipe the hurt look off of his face. She turned her face away, not wanting to look at his beautiful, expressive eyes. “Since middle school,” she whispered. “But he’s still in grayscale. Why would I want to tell anyone how broken I am? That my soulmate can’t love me because he doesn’t know we’re soulmates? He might never know. He’ll probably meet his soulmate who bonds back, and never know or care.”

“Maya,” Lucas whispered, resting a hand on her shoulder. “I didn’t know.” His voice was soft, both understanding and hurt.

“No one did, not for a long time,,” she shrugged. “I wanted to keep it that way. I didn’t want anyone to look at me differently. Riley and Farkle have had each other for years! I was always the odd one out of the group. I didn’t want to give anyone another reason to point it out. I’ll never get a happily ever after with my soulmate.” Maya firmly believed that Lucas would find someone who would let him see color, and live happily with them. She wasn’t a forever.

Lucas stared at her, unsure what to say. He wanted to comfort her, tell her she wasn’t broken. She was everything amazing in life. She was determination, loyalty, bravery. It was why he had fallen for her in the first place. He had been overjoyed when she accepted his invitation to go on a date, time after time. He had found a sense of happiness with her that he had never felt before, and he didn’t want to let that go. But now it seemed like he might have to. She had a soulmate, even if they didn’t know. Lucas felt that she deserved to get to know him, in some way. And it was a wake up call for him. He knew he had a soulmate out there, somewhere. But he was happy with how his life was now. Even thought he was destined to love his soulmate, in the moment, all he wanted was to be with Maya.

Trying to figure out a response, his mind caught on something she had said. “You said no one did. Past tense. Does someone else know now?”

Maya sighed, looking at her clasped hands. “Yes. For a year, one other person has known.” She knew if she told Lucas that _Josh_ had been the one to know, he would get weird. He knew Josh wasn’t her soulmate, as she had had to make that clear numerous times. At the start of their relationship, he wanted to make sure he wasn’t holding her back, or making her do something she was unsure about. Everyone knew how much Maya and Josh hung out, how close they were now. Most people assumed that either they were soulmates, or that Maya liked him. Even the constant reminders that they were just friends wasn’t enough for some people.

“Riley?” Lucas guessed. He assumed Maya’s best friend would be the first to know. They told each other everything.

Maya shook her head. “Riley doesn’t know. Farkle doesn’t either.” Before he could continue guessing, she continued. “And no, neither Zay or Smackle knows, either.”

Lucas’s nose scrunched up. “Josh?”

Maya nodded. “He was around more at that point in time. Farkle and Riley were busy going on dates and with academics. Smackle had a lot of extracurriculars, Zay had ballet. You were busy with baseball, or out with Claire. I felt alone a lot, and Josh made time to hang out with me. He’s one of my best friends. He was an outside opinion, which helped. I needed to talk to someone removed from the situation.”

“You could’ve come to any of us, you know,” Lucas tried to ignore the stinging he felt upon hearing that Josh had known, for a _year_. That was around the time he realized that while Claire was a good person, and he enjoyed having her around, he liked Maya. He knew his jealousy of Josh’s friendship with Maya was irrational, but he couldn’t help it. He felt drawn to her, since the first time they met on the train. After he had gotten to know her, he wished that they had bonded.

“I know,” Maya turned away. “But Josh… he was there.”

Lucas sat in the silence she created, taking in the lighter  gray of her curls. He knew what hair color she had based on Riley’s description. She and Farkle explained the colors to him early on in their friendship.  Red was either love or anger.  Yellow was the feeling of accomplishment, and the feeling you got when someone told you they were proud of you. They explained colors in feelings, but he still yearned to see them. He wanted to see her. “Why haven’t you told him yet?”

Maya hesitated. She pulled her hair down from where it was tucked behind her ear. “I don’t want to ruin the chance to have him in my life. I don’t want him to feel like he owes it to me to try, or that he only agrees to start something out of obligation. He probably has a soulmate out there, and they’ll be happy together.”

“You should let him have a choice.” Lucas didn’t want to push her away from him into someone else’s arms, but he did want her to be happy. He wanted her to feel  yellow and  red , even if that meant he had to feel  green and  blue .

“Maybe.”

 

* * *

They kept their distance from each other over the next couple of weeks.

Maya stuck to Riley and Farkle, and Lucas let her. They were her friends before they were his, and he had his team and Zay. Smackle still hung out with all of them, but she tended to spend more time with Farkle, as he was her best friend.

Maya told her friends the truth (that she could see color but her soulmate couldn’t, but not who her soulmate was), and Farkle and Smackle had immediately begun researching to figure out how a one-way bond was possible. It wasn’t supposed to be, so they searched for information.

It was day sixteen of Maya and Lucas keeping their distance when Farkle and Smackle called a group meeting in the library. Gathered around them was the majority of their friend group. Riley, Zay, Charlie who had befriended Riley first, Claire who had kept up with the group even after she and Lucas broke up, and even Josh. He had been in town that weekend, so he had been invited along.

Maya sat in between Josh and Riley, holding their hands as they waited for news. She was glad Lucas wasn't there, that he had an away game that afternoon. Normally, she would’ve gone with, to cheer him on. But it wasn’t a normal day.

Farkle and Smackle pulled out the piles of research they had sorted through. The research dated back to the earliest paper done on soulmates, and the science behind how they worked. They explained what they had learned, throwing around long words and scientific terms. They loved research, and had gone through every relevant article, research paper, book, and academic journal on the subject. They had even contacted soulmate specialists to set up meetings and phone conferences. They pulled out all the stops to help their friend, and to learn more about the interesting topic.

“Basically, it boils down to one fact,” Smackle began to conclude all the information she and Farkle had thrown at them.

“It’s biologically impossible to have a one-way bond. There are rare cases in which one half of a bonded couple has achromatopsia, or the complete lack of colors. It’s a fancy work for color-blind. Which means, your soulmate bond is _not_ one way. Your other half simply can’t see color because the rods in his eyes can’t process color.” Farkle beamed at his friend.

“Congratulations, Maya. You have a soulmate.”

 

* * *

Maya didn’t show up at school the following Monday.

Instead, she and Josh ditched school for a day to roam around New York. He knew she needed time to process what her friends had told her, that the reality she convinced herself of wasn’t true. Since he was the only one who knew who her soulmate was, it had been an obvious choice for him to support her.

Riley really wanted to know who Maya’s soulmate was, but she knew that her best friend was in the good hands of her uncle. Josh would talk to Maya about the situation, and help her figure out the right path to take. Though she wished she had been the one to know, she had grown enough over the past years to be happy that Maya had someone she trusted with this, even though it couldn’t be her.

Farkle and Zay had filled Lucas in with the big news. They had careful about delivering the news, since they knew Lucas liked Maya. Even though the couple had been spending time apart, due to the reveal that Maya had a soulmate and had met them, Lucas couldn’t get rid of his feelings so easily.

“I’m… happy for her,” Lucas managed to get out. To him, this was the end of any dream of having Maya in his life romantically for much longer. He wanted to hold on to hope that their relationship would last at least to the end of high school, but now he would have to do the right thing and step back.

“Do you know who it is?” Zay asked.

Lucas shook his head. “Josh is the only one who knows.”

“Not even you or Riley?” Zay turned to look at Farkle.

“No,” Farkle responded. “But I can’t blame her. Riley and I grew up together. She thought something was wrong with her. She keeps things like this a secret, and we’re used to it. She tells us when she's ready. That’s how it’s always been. And we respect that.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Lucas admitted. He had known Maya long enough to understand her thought process about opening up to people. She didn’t do it too often, and she carefully picked who got to know what. It was usually Riley or Farkle, considering how long they had been friends. But it had been him before, had been Zay or Smackle. This time, it was Josh.

Soulmates were a tough topic for Maya. Her parents hadn’t been soulmates, but had chosen to try and settle down with each other. When her father left, Maya had thrown away any belief she had in the subject. Her mother hadn’t found hers yet, and because she got married to a man who wasn’t her soulmate, who then left, she had to work long hours, and spent more time away from Maya than with. Eventually, Katy had found her soulmate in Shawn, and they were happy now. Though Maya’s perspective hadn’t changed overnight, it had gotten better. It made sense that she was now starting to slowly open up more.

“What are _you_ going to do about this?” Zay asked him as Farkle stepped away to discuss something with Smackle.

“I don’t know,” Lucas sighed. “I want her to be happy, but I wish it was with me. I wish we had bonded.”

“You’re really that serious about her, huh?”

Lucas nodded. “Which is why I’ll accept her choice on this matter.”

“Do you want to find out who her soulmate is? I have a feeling that though Maya never told them, that Riley and Farkle have a guess. There’s no one who knows her better than they do. Years of friendship give them an insight to her behaviors. They would have suspicions if they thought she had met her soulmate. I could ask Riley, if you want.”

Lucas hesitated. Part of him wanted to know, wanted to know if whoever-the-guy-was would treat Maya the way she deserved, if he would love her for all her broken edges and for her sharp tongue. He wanted to know if she would trust him with her secrets and her fears the way she did with Riley, or Farkle, or Josh, or him. The other part, though, didn’t want to know. He didn't want to see her happy with someone that wasn’t him, not with how he felt about her. He loved Maya, and he didn’t think he could handle seeing her with someone else, with her _soulmate_ , and not being able to do anything about it.

In the end, his love for her won out. He wanted her to be happy. “Okay.”

 

* * *

Maya wrapped her arms around her legs, trying to make herself smaller. Lucas was on the way up to the rooftop garden of her apartment building. They hadn’t spoken much since she revealed to him that she had color bonded. She had no idea how this conversation would end, but she knew they had to have it.

Riley, Farkle, Zay, Smackle and Josh were at a nearby sandwich shop, ready to comfort her if needed. She hoped she wouldn’t need to, but she was glad they had her back.

Lucas had something he wanted to ask her, and she was going to tell him about her version of the day they first crossed paths, of the colors blooming to life, the years of struggling thinking she had a one-sided bond, of the research and conclusion that came from Farkle and Smackle.

She didn’t look up when she heard the door to the roof open, knowing it was Lucas. She waited until he approached her, sitting next to her. They sat in silence, staring out at the other buildings.

“Farkle and Smackle did some research for me,” Maya began. “About soulmates. They had many, many scientific terms. They did tons of research, had conference calls with specialists. Turns out, one-sided bonds are impossible. My soulmate has achromatopsia. Complete lack of color, a type of color blindness. It happens when the rods in someone’s eyes can’t process color. It’s rare, but not unheard of. So, we bonded, but he doesn’t know because he can’t see color.”

“Who is it?” Lucas asked, angling his face away from her.

“You.”

All Lucas could do was blink. He didn’t know what he was expecting— maybe someone theywent to school with, or someone she briefly made eye contact with on the street. Maybe even Josh, since he was still in gray-scale as far as Lucas knew.

“Me?”

Maya nodded. Taking a deep breath, she started her story. “Riley and I got on the subway one morning, back in middle school. We were going to meet Farkle at school a little early. She spotted a new kid reading a book, and wanted to say hi, but she was really awkward. I decided to prove to her how easy it is to introduce yourself to someone. He looked up when I started talking to him, and all I could see was the green of his eyes. Everything around me was in color, but he didn’t seem affected at all. I fled. I thought I would never see him again, but he ended up at my school, in most of my classes. He was still in gray-scale, so I never said anything. Until now.”

“And you never said anything because you thought I had someone else… Maya, it’s been you. Claire’s great, but she’s not you. Maya, you just told me that we’re soulmates. I love you, and I did even before all of this. I’ve always been drawn to you. Sure, Riley and Farkle were great people, but I could have made other best friends. I chose you guys, I chose you. There were times I wish we _had_ bonded, because you make me happy, and I didn’t want to lose that one day,” Lucas admitted. He reached tentatively for her hand, unsure how she would react. He knew that his declaration of emotions might throw her for a moment.

“You don’t have to.” Her voice was quiet, but Lucas was able to catch her words.

He let the words wash over him as he processed. He would always wish Maya told him sooner, would always wish he saw color the moment she looked at him, would always wish that he knew she was his soulmate for the years leading up to that moment. There would be things to talk about, about her belief that he would find someone else, that he was fully colorblind. But they could have those conversations later.

Instead, Lucas pulled her into a hug. He didn’t say anything, but when the tension left her shoulders and she leaned back against him, he knew they would be okay.

 

* * *

Lucas hadn’t told Maya why he had been leaving school early a couple days a week. He didn’t want either of them to get their hopes high.

There was a specialist located just outside New York City that knew more about achromatopsia than anyone else. Her lab had been working on creating glasses that would help those who couldn’t process color, see color. She had reached out for a test group, and when Lucas had seen it, he knew he needed to take the opportunity.

The testing would take a month. Each set of glasses had to be adjusted to the individual, which took a couple hours. Dr. Henderson also needed before statistics to make comparisons with. She had six participants, and Lucas was one of the youngest. He was eighteen, and the youngest was seventeen. Not all of them had met their soulmates, not all knew if they had or not. Lucas was one of the ones who knew his soulmate. Lauren, a twenty-seven year old, knew she was color blind, but was unsure as if to she had met her soulmate. Her partner was in color, but their eye contact had been brief from across a sea of people. If this test gave Lauren her colors, she would know her partner was her soulmate. She needed to know for herself, and her partner understood.

Lucas liked talking to her, as she told him the symptoms of achromatopsia that he didn’t realize the enormity of. They were usually the most prominent around twelve or thirteen, but Lucas hadn’t been going to the eye doctor or his doctor very much due to the separation of his parents, and his move to New York with his mom.

They all knew going into the study that they might not see color, but being able to help future generations like them was enough.

It was on the third week that Dr. Henderson gave them slim black cases that contained their specially fitted glasses. They varied in color and make, depending on preferences. They were mostly thin, black plastic, or thin, gold metal.

Lucas opened the box at the same time as everyone else. No one moved for three minutes, knowing that either their world would be flipped upside down, or nothing would change. It was also possible only a few of them would see color.

They all had something they wanted to see in color first. Themselves, a parent, a partner, a certain photo. Lucas had a photo of Maya tucked in his pocket, her smile wide as she laughed and Riley and Farkle who were in the background of the photo. It had been taken during their first month together, the four of them going on a picnic in a nearby park. Riley had wanted them to have a double date, and made sure that they took a lot of photos. The one Lucas brought with him was his favorite.

Shutting his eyes, Lucas let the frames come to a rest on the bridge of his nose before pulling out the photo. He held it in front of his face as he opened his eyes.

* * *

 

He spotted Maya sitting on the rooftop, looking out at the sunset.

Smiling, Lucas made his way over to her. He sat down next to her, letting her lean against him. They were silent, but it was comfortable.

Lucas dug into his pocket, pulling out the small black case that he had been allowed to keep. Opening it, he slid on the frames, blinking as he readjusted to a sight he only recently had been able to see.

“Your eyes are blue,” he whispered to Maya. “Your hair is blonde, but it looks like gold. The sunset is orange and yellow and pink. And you are my soulmate.”

She looked at him, unblinking. Maya glared at him, before pulling him in by the shirt to kiss him. She had found out early that day from Zay what her boyfriend had been up to. She understood why he didn’t tell her, but she was worried about negative outcomes. However, her worries were unfounded as he was now able to see her in all the colors she saw when she looked at him.

“I love you,” Maya whispered into the silence. She wasn’t afraid to say it anymore, knowing that they were soulmates, and that he wouldn’t leave. She wasn’t ready to tell everyone, but knowing what he had done for the slightest chance to see colors meant a lot.

“I love you, too,” he responded with a smile, before pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Forever.”

**Author's Note:**

> I've been trying to write a soulmate AU for a while, and this is the first one I was able to complete. I'm going to try and write more in the future for other fandoms, as well as this one.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it!


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